Symeon of Jerbiton

ArsMagicalGirl
AMG-Magi

Backstory and Description

Born Carlot, is the illegitimate son of the archbishop of Rouen. As he was unofficially fostered with the family of an Acolyte soon after his birth his mother’s identity is unknown, but is suspected by his Parens to be Theognosia of Merinitia, a gently gifted Maga of the Normandy Tribunal long since lost to the final Twilight. He manifested the Gentle Gift around his twelfth birthday, but the urban nature of his upbringing and his near-constant proximity to the Dominion meant that his magical talents went unobserved.

He was picked up by his Parens Megistus of House Jerbiton during his first year studying the arts at the cathedral school of Rouen at the age of 15, Megistus was himself studying there and had recently graduated when he became aware of the young student’s inherent grasp of Auram and Mentem magic.

Despite his age, Megistus believed the young man’s education made it worth the venture of teaching him, and took him on as his apprentice. Megistus was an ardent Neoplatonist and master of Certamen, who viewed the practice of magical duelling as an artform and Hermetic magic a gift from God. He instilled this appreciation into his student, though Symeon’s own studies took him in the direction of music and astronomy.

Four years into his apprenticeship, while en route to Palencia with his parens, the two of them stayed as guests of a covenant on the Franco-Iberian border, where Symeon caught the eye of Franseza of Merinita, and on the third and final night of their stay, after a ridiculously one-sided contest of music followed by a much more lively debate on the composition of the piece, the two of them made love under the stars. Master and Parens left the next day for Spain proper.

Almost two years later, the two of them returned to learn that Franseza had disappeared soon after their arrival, to complete her initiation into the inner mysteries of Merinita. It was the night after they left for France that the two of them were visited while they camped by Franseza, who had traded away her eyes for emeralds and joined the ranks of the Faerie aristocracy. The faerie queen left Carlot/Symeon with a baby girl and departed, saying that the baby girl’s name was Audrey, and saying scarcely anything of her reasons.

Despite the circumstances, Megistus was inclined to let his apprentice keep care of his child, hiring a wet nurse and completing his apprentices training in a more settled fashion in the Normandy Tribunal. Symeon suspects the old wizard was fascinated by the idea of studying a lineage of wizard and fae first hand, or possibly he was curious that it might lead to insight into the closely guarded mysteries of House Merinita.

In any case, Carlot completed his apprenticeship some years later and took the Hermetic name Symeon. Over this time he married Audrey’s nurse Flore and declared his membership into the League of the Silent Ones and devoted himself in full to the advancement of Hermetic theory through study of music and astronomy, convinced that hermetic magic could be made more subtle and harmonious with the divine, and perhaps exceed the limit of the Lunar Sphere, through study of the skies.

One month before the campaign’s start, Symeon will be approached by the Faerie Lord Marsyne, who claims that Audrey’s mother betrothed her to him, and that when she comes of age he will come for her and make her his wife. (Note: I’m using Lord Marsyne from the corebook but any Faerie Lord will do, strictly speaking corebook Marsyne does not and in fact cannot kidnap a wife, but Symeon doesn’t need to know that, or we can play it differently. Up to you.) The two of them engaged in battle, which the Faerie Lord handily won and left with a bow, stating he would be back. Since the encounter, Symeon has experienced involuntary visions connected to the Faerie Realm.

As such, when news of a Faerie Regio in Codalet spread to Normandy, Symeon jumped at the chance to declare membership of the new Covenant, theorising that he may be able to find Franseza and find out the truth of this matter, and perhaps find some way to cancel the engagement should it exist.

Basic Stats

Name: Symeon (born Carlot of Rouen)
Characteristics: Int +4, Per +1, Str -2, Sta 1, Prs 1, Com 3, Dex -3, Qik 1
Size: 0
Age: 30 (30)
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)Twilight Scars: None
Confidence Score: 1 (3)
Virtues: Hermetic Magus, The Gift, Book Learner, Gentle Gift, Educated, Great Intelligence, Skilled Parens, Quiet Magic, Subtle Magic, Study bonus, Minor Magical Focus (Certamen)
Flaws: Dependent (A wife and child), Study Requirement, Visions, Weird Magic (Tends to manifest in ways related to sound), Susceptibility to Faerie Power, Pessimistic (Minor)
Personality Traits: Studious +3, Soft-Spoken +1, Brave +1
Reputations: None

Combat Stats

Weapons: Dodge: Init +1, Atk n/a, Def +1, Dam n/a
Soak: +1 (additional +1 to anything a form bonus helps with)
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20), Dead (21+)
Equipment: Wizardly Robes, Blue Pointed Hat, Wax Tablet
Encumbrance: 0

Abilities

Charm 2 (Scholars),
Folk Ken 2 (Magi),
Intrigue 1 (Detecting plots),
Guile 1 (Keeping secrets),
Native Language (Northern French/Langues d’Oil) 5 (Seeming erudite),
Language (Catalan) 2 (Poetry),
Artes Liberales 5 (Astronomy),
Latin 5 (Hermetic),
Civil and Canon Law 2 (Heresy),
Philosophiae 3 (Ceremonial Magic),
Theology 1 (Biblical Knowledge),
Parma Magica 1 (Certamen),
Penetration 1 (Certamen),
Finesse 1 (Works of art),
Music 2 (Compose),
Code of Hermes 2 (Interfering with mundanes),
Magic Theory 4 (Intellego),
Faerie Lore 1 (Faerie Metaphysics)
Magic Lore 1 (Magical Creatures)
Teaching 1 (Hermetic Magic)
Ride 1 (Horses)

Arts

Techniques:Creo 7, Rego 7, Intellego 7, Muto 2, Perdo 2
Forms: Auram 5, Mentem 5, Imaginem 5, Vim 5, Terram 2, Herbam 2, Ignem 1, Aquam 1, Corpus 1, Animal 1

Spells

CreAu 10: Wreathes of Foul Smoke
IntAu 20: Sailor’s Foretaste of the Morrow
RegoAu 15: Whispering Winds
MutIma 5: The Herbs and Spices
MutIma 10: Notes of a Delightful Sound
RegIma: 10 Wizard’s Sidestep
IntMen 20: Posing the Silent Question (Mastery 1 – Quiet Casting)
RegMen 20: Aura of Rightful Authority
IntMen 15: Perception of the Conflicting Motives (Mastery 1 – Quiet Casting)
RegMen 10: The Call to Slumber (Mastery 1 – Multiple Casting)
MuTer 10: The Crystal Dart
IntVim 5: Sense the presence of Vis

Notes

Sense the Presence of Vis (Intellego Vim 5)
Base 1, personal, momentary, +4 vision: This spell allows Symeon to spot if an object contains Vis. It does not give any information on the nature or quantity of Vis, nor of the amount of vis used in rituals or invested in enchanted items, it simply detects the presence of Vis.

Member of the following sub-organisations:

League (A collective of Jerbiton Magi working to a single goal): The Silent Ones. The Silent Ones as a group are dedicated to the integration of silent and subtle spellcasting into wider hermetic theory, and increasing the subtlety and beauty of magic so that it might function more easily within the Dominion. Symeon believes this can be accomplished through the study of astronomy and the influence of the movements and sounds of planetary bodies upon the composition of beauteous music.

The Collegium: Acquainted with the cross-Tribunal society of Neoplatonic Magi, through his Parens Megistus, though Symeon himself has no real reputation among them.